Gainesville State College (GSC) unconstitutionally censored a painting critical of Confederate heritage by removing it from a faculty art exhibition. Art instructor and artist Stanley Bermudez’ painting “Heritage?” features images of a lynching and of a torch-wielding member of the Ku Klux Klan superimposed onto a Confederate flag. Two weeks into the exhibition, when critics of the painting contacted… Read more

Art purged for being “one-sided,” among other excuses Censors, often not understanding the message, ban art rather than grapple with its meaning PHILADELPHIA, July 10, 2018 — Art censorship is nothing new. Spanish conquistadors smashed ceramics of ancient Peruvian cultures that portrayed gay and lesbian sex. The Roman Catholic Church of the 15th century was… Read more

Throughout much of the year, FIRE has been fighting for the free speech rights of art instructor Stanley Bermudez at Gainesville State College (GSC) in Georgia. Bermudez, in case Torch readers have forgotten, painted a provocative painting titled "Heritage?" for display at a GSC faculty art exhibition. The painting criticized the heritage of the Confederate flag… Read more

Gainesville State College (GSC) in Georgia is defending its censorship of a faculty member’s painting involving the Confederate flag. FIRE has come to the defense of art instructor Stanley Bermudez, whose painting portraying the Confederate flag in a critical context was removed by administrators from a faculty art exhibition. Disappointingly, GSC has so far not seen fit… Read more

GAINESVILLE, Ga., April 14, 2011—Gainesville State College (GSC) in Georgia is defending its censorship of a faculty member’s painting involving the Confederate flag. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) has come to the defense of art instructor Stanley Bermudez, whose painting portraying the Confederate flag in a critical context was removed by administrators… Read more

A recent article in The Northerner, of Northern Kentucky University (NKU), reports that an art display has been moved from its place in an NKU library after administrators received complaints over its depiction of a member of the Ku Klux Klan. More specifically, the work is an award-winning triptych of images by NKU professor Hanz Schellhas… Read more

After the president of Gainesville State College (GSC) removed a professor’s painting from a faculty exhibition, FIRE is asking Gainesville State College to fulfill its moral and legal obligations to uphold free speech and academic freedom on campus. Art instructor Stanley Bermudez’s painting "Heritage?" portrays the Confederate flag in a critical context, which has prompted some complaints from… Read more